Washington and Georgia protest votes raise pressure on Biden over Gaza war

The protest vote against President Joe Biden’s stance on Gaza continued in Washington and Georgia this week, where thousands of voters chose no one, sending a message to the president that their votes depend on a ceasefire.

Washington, a reliably blue state, saw support from local elected officials and major unions in its multi-faith push for “uncommitted” delegates. They spent about $20,000 and began organizing on 24 February. More than 56,000 voters selected uncommitted delegates on the ballots counted so far, though more than 200,000 ballots remain uncounted there as of Thursday morning.

Georgia’s ballot didn’t have an uncommitted option, so organizers there put together a “leave it blank” campaign, calling on voters to cast a ballot, but not fill it out, to send a message to Biden on Gaza. Nearly 6,500 voters there left it blank. And nearly 9,000 voters chose Marianne Williamson, which some protest voters have selected because she supports a ceasefire. Combined, the votes exceed Biden’s margin of victory in the state in 2020, which was about 12,000 votes.

The push to use the presidential primary ballot in this way continued even as Biden has secured the Democratic nomination after winning Georgia and Mississippi on Tuesday. Biden has easily won the nominating contests so far, as an incumbent president, though sizable numbers in his own party continue to press him for his support of military aid for Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, in which at least 30,000 people have been killed.

The uncommitted movement started in Michigan’s presidential primary, where more than 100,000 Democratic voters chose the protest vote in a state with a large proportion of Muslim and Arab Americans. Next, Super Tuesday saw several states